Day 24: Public Speaking Lessons From The World Champion

I am passionate about speaking as a skill. Whether it is world famous speeches that have inspired us through the decades or the art of speaking impromptu. A powerful speech can galvanise nations and a commanding voice can change the course of history. But speaking is public is said to be feared worse than death itself. With so many pairs of eyes staring at you, the survival instincts kick in and we want to run to safety. However, speaking is a key skill if one wants to succeed in life in general.

I was thrilled a couple of years ago to discover a world championship of public speaking. The best of the world fought for the title over multiple rounds and only the best won. You could say that I am fascinated with this speech by the world champion in 2014 but it deserves to be watched again and again! It is amazing how neatly this 7 minute presentation uses so many things that make a great talk. The rose metaphor, the body language, intonation of voice, humour, emotion, a theme running though the talk, the delivery and the well practiced overall presentation.

This is a great piece to learn the art of effective speaking to make your own speaking more confident and powerful.

I want to share this post I wrote about this video on my work blog - 5 things to learn from the world champion of public speaking - where I dissect elements of the speech here and discuss they work so well.

Enjoy the video and do tell me how you liked it. If you wish to work on your speaking skills, drop me a line and I can help you.

This post is a part of #NaBloPoMo which stands for November Blog Posting Month hosted by BlogHer.